Big Brotherly Pride
by Brook18
Summary: Oneshot. Derek comes home from D.C. after Amelia's carreer altering surgery on Nicole Herman, and the two talk about it while sitting on the couch in the living room.


Amelia Shepherd is lying on the couch in her brother's living room. She's more exhausted than ever before in her life. For over eighteen hours she stood in an OR and operated on a brain, removing a brain tumor that any other doctor would've considered inoperable. But she did it. And instead of going home she'd spent a week in the hospital, waiting for Herman to finally wake up so she'd know if she'd been right.

This morning Nicole had regained consciousness after being comatose for nearly a week. Amelia has never been so relieved in her life. The only devasit Herman has is blindness, and considering how risky the surgery had been it's not that big a loss. Amelia is secretly devastated that she díd cause damage, but like she told Edwards, the fact that Herman is even still alive can be considered a win.

She closes her eyes briefly and sinks further into the pillows. Owen drove her home about an hour ago, after she'd finished up all her paperwork. She had wanted to stay, but he'd insisted and now that she's finally home she's willing to admit that it feels good taking a break from the hospital.

For months she'd basically been living there, to the point where she isn't sure if she'll ever get the smell out of her hair. She's excited to see the kids again, even if they're not home yet, they will be in a little while.

As if on cue she hears the front door open and she opens her eyes again, expecting to see her niece and nephew. Only it isn't them. Instead Derek walks in through the door frame, his suitcase trailing behind him.

He spots her lying on the couch and smiles. He's surprised to see her here. With everything that's been going on he'd expected her to be at the hospital, checking up on her patient twentyfourseven.

Amelia wills herself to sit up a bit more and feels tears start to pool in her eyes. Quickly she wipes them away with her sleeve and smiles back at Derek. It's the fatigue that's making her this emotional but she can't help but be embarrassed.

When he sees the tears in her eyes he shuts the door and hurries over, taking a seat on the coffee table in front of her. "Amy, are you okay?" He asks and she nods. It's not enough to settle his nerves however and he reaches out to grab her hand.

At the contact she starts to cry in earnest. She can't help it. Concern dominates Derek's features at her outburst but when he moves to comfort her she shakes her head. She just needs a minute to compose herself.

Finally the tears stop falling and she wipes her cheeks with the back of her hand. Derek is still looking at her and she smiles. "I'm fine Derek. Just beyond exhausted, that's all. You don't have to worry".

He gives her a sceptical look. "I always worry, it's in my job description. And I can understand why you're tired. I heard you pulled of the impossible".

Of course he'd heard. The surgery had been the talk of the whole field. Every neurosurgeon with half a brain would have heard about it, maybe even kept up with her lectures. A once in a lifetime surgery like this one isn't something that passes by without being noticed.

Amelia grins at him, "Yeah well, I guess I owe you a thank you. Apparently people with the Shepherd name get taken seriously here when they wanna operate on inoperable brain tumors. So thanks for that".

He's smirking now too and he slumps down on the couch next to her, pulling her close to his side. "I'm serious Amy, I'm really proud of you. You proved yourself to everyone. Including me".

Never before has he told her that he's proud of her. Being the fifth sibling in her family to become a doctor going to medical school hadn't been special anymore, and even going into neurosurgery had lost it's glamour thanks to her brother specialising in it first.

To hear now, after so many years of trying to earn his respect, that he's proud of her, means more to her than she could ever say.

And she did prove herself. Not just to him but to everyone. She knows people doubted her. Callie asking her if she'd be doing the entire surgery by herself had been prove enough of that. She knows people had been whispering behind her back. The junkie doctor trying so hard to live up to her brother's reputation. Only a handful of people had actually believed she could do it. And now that she had she owed them a big thank you.

"It was amazing Derek" She says, "The most beautiful tumor I have ever seen". Even the mere memory of the thing makes her smile, and Derek can tell how intrigued she still is. "Tell me about it" He asks her, and she looks up to meet his gaze. "Are you sure, you just got home".

He's looking at her with such conviction and pride in his eyes that he doesn't even need to answer for her to know.

And so she sets off telling him every single detail. Except the part where she asked Richard to call him, he doesn't need to know that, it can be their little secret. She quietly reminds herself to thank Richard later, because without him, she wouldn't have been able to pull it off.

They spend the rest of the afternoon talking tumor, and she's never been happier to have her brother back home.

 **AN: This is a short little scene that I (once again) wished they'd showed on the show. I think with how rocky their relationship can be it's important for Amelia to know that Derek really is proud of her and so I wrote this to satisfy my own need. It's pretty crappy writing but you'll get the point I'm trying to make. Xx**


End file.
